Ahmedabad: Five-time champions Australia inched closer to the semi-finals by beating England by 33 runs in the league stage fixture of the ICC World Cup 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Saturday. Put into bat, Australia put up a fighting total of 286 runs with dogged 71 runs innings from Marnus Labuschagne and handy knocks from Steve Smith, Cameron Green and Marcus Stoinis.
The team from Down Under then bundled out the defending champions for 253 in 48.1 overs to record a memorable win. Spinner Adam Zampa, was the pick of the bowlers, as he returned with fine figures of 3/21.
The England chase never got going and the Jos Buttler-led side kept losing wickets. Ben Stokes top scored with 64, but once he departed, it was all but over for England, who have already crashed out of the marquee tournament.
For Australia, pacers Mitchell Strac (2/66), Josh Hazlewood (2/49) and skipper Pat Cummins (2/49) and Marcus Stoinis (1/34) also played their parts to perfection as they emerged on the top.
Earlier, Australian batters faltered again but managed to turn the tide eventually to reach a formidable 286 losing all 10 wickets with three balls to spare against arch-rivals England in .
Put into bat, top Aussie batters Marnus Labuschange (71 off 83), Steve Smith (44 off 52), Cameron Green (47 off 52) and Marcus Stoinis (35 off 32) failed to convert good starts and kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. Australia had a modest start losing openers David Warner (15) and Travis Head (11) early. Pacer Chris Woakes removed both to give the hope of bundling out the arch-rivals for a paltry total, but the English bowlers failed to capitalize on the start.
Former captain Steve Smith and Labuschagne, who have fared badly so far in the World Cup, added 75 runs off 96 balls for the third wicket to give stability to the Aussie innings. Following Steve Smith's dismissal, Josh Inglis (3) attempted to accelerate but fell while going for a reverse sweep off leggie Adil Rashid. Cameron Green was having problems dealing with the short-pitched stuff from Mark Wood, but picked other bowlers to score runs at a brisk pace. However, Green's leg-stump went for a toss after missing a slog sweep off left-arm quick David Willey. Number 10 batter Adam Zampa contributed a crucial 29 off 19 balls hitting four boundaries.
Brief Scores: Australia 286 in 49.3 overs (Steve Smith 44, Marnus Labuschagne 71, Cameron Green 47, Marcus Stoinis 35; Chris Woakes 4/54, Adil Rashid 2/38, Mark Wood 2/70) beat England 253 in 48.1 overs (Ben Stokes 64, Dawid Malan 50; Adam Zampa 3/21) by 33 runs.
- Most consecutive defeats for a Full member side in WCs
11 Afghanistan (2019-23)
7 Sri Lanka (1983-87)
6 Bangladesh (2023)
5 West Indies (2019)
5 England (2023)
- Most defeats for a Full member side in a World Cup
9 Afghanistan (2019)
6 Sri Lanka (1987)
6 Bangladesh (2007)
6 West Indies (2019)
6 Bangladesh (2023)
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